Customer Rating: 
Summary: Great Product...BUT beware vendor choice.
Comment: This product is great...and I now have 3 of them. Reason for this review is I want everyone to PLEASE check seller feedback if you plan to get this item. I bought 2 of these in last 9 months...from Amazon Prime (well actually 3 now but read a bit further to see why). When I wanted a 3rd one for a gift (DIL was awaiting a bone marrow transplant)I accidentally purchased from another vendor (don't assume when you want to purchase same item from your buying history that you will get same vendor choice when you click the link). It was a HUGE mistake. Vendor sucked. Sent the OLD 17000 Honeywell. NOT the 17000N Honeywell PERMANENT Hepa Filter. (Kaz the makers of Honeywell told me that the N means "new" models and they don't make any of these units without a permanent hepa filter for some time now).
While it may seem an honest mistake...it wasn't. Even the box didn't show the item as described on the purchase page. In fact it looked like it was many years OLD, very boxy and huge chunky buttons. The box didn't even say it was a PERMANENT Hepa Filter. There have been other complaints of this vendor on this same product...so it was unlikely it was a mistake...but more likely...they hoped unsuspecting buyer wouldn't realize the difference till they found out they had to buy a whole filter assembly.
Sooo IF you want a Permanent Hepa Filter...and you don't know if the vendor sent you the right one...I can tell your this...the box will be plastered with PERMANENT HEPA FILTER. The booklet will SAY Permanent HEPA Filter and how to vacuum it. When you first open unit to put the charcoal pre-filter around the ROUND permanent hepa filter..it will be clearly seem a product that can be vacuumed..where as the OLD filter will be like a cheap car airfilter with a cheesy black plastic screen around the filter. The PERMANENT one has a fine whitish mesh that is firmly attached to protect the inside paper filter to withstand vacuuming. MY first unit was run about 9 months (with 5 prefilter changes (cheap to buy)and only recently did the actual hepa filter light show it needed vacuuming.
Since that flaky vendot sent the WRONG model...I was desperate to get a new 17000N to my DIL's little apartment across from the Cancer Unit. So I had to buy another of these units (from Amazon Prime) while WAITING for this vendor to refund my money after I had to ship it back after many days of trying to get them to respond by email or phone. It' just not worth the hassle and cost my friends...so be careful that you look hard at the vendor. I have not received full refund yet from vendor. My mistake was to assume that if I clicked on my order history..and clicked the same unit I had purchase 2 times in last 9 months...that this unit would come from the same vendor. So check CLOSELY that you do want your vendor...and that you know what to look for to make sure you get the RIGHT unit.
Customer Rating: Summary: Love them! We have 5...
Comment: After enduring burning, swelling and irritated eyes when I was in my house (particularly my office,) we feared we might have a serious indoor air quality problem in our home. We called our insurance company about air testing, we discussed ripping out all of the carpeting...then I decided to try a simple air purifier to see what happened.
Despite dusting, vacuuming, dusting, vacuuming, steam cleaning everything I could get my hands on, and HEPA filters on the HVAC system.......THIS air purifier still caught an unbelievable amount of particulates in the air.
Within a few days, running the air purifier 24/7 in my office, I no longer had the allergy irritations I'd experienced for so long. I bought two more and ran them in rooms our family uses most often. I was giddy checking the carbon pre-filters regularly to see the dust and who-knows-what accumulating.
I promptly bought boxes of pre-filters to have on hand for replacing, and 3 MORE Honeywell HEPA air purifiers. They run in the master bedroom, living room, kids play room, home office and my son's room - because he has a heart defect that causes pulmonary infections.
Pros:
*They work. Very well. We've seen particulate matter accumulate rapidly on the pre-filters, even when vacuuming rooms several times a week, dusting, a housekeeper who does the same.
*I no longer have the allergy symptoms when I'm in my own home.
*They are small enough that my young children can move them fairly easily.
*They are wickedly powerful in air-exchange in a room, which helps drum up the tiniest particles you don't want lying around.
*On 'high-speed' it provides nice white noise.
Cons:
*Out of 9-10 I've ordered, I've had to return 3 because of mfg defects.
*The filters are very pricey.
*People turn them off if they're in a living space where you'd want dead silence (ex: during movie night) and I'm always turning them back on. But that's a personal problem, not Honeywell's :)
They have changed the quality of air so drastically in our home, that i'm willing to pay for the pre-filters that require changing.
Actuallly, the "carbon pre-filters" are there to catch the larger particulate matter and *remove odors*, the "HEPA" filter does not need replacing, only a quick vacuum a few times a year. (if you use it as much as we do) Therefore, I actually *vacuum* the "carbon pre-filter" lightly with a dust buster to get the layer of visible dust off of it. This will remove some of the carbon with it, reducing the efficacy, so I'd only do this once or twice - to try to squeeze a little extra life out of it before paying for a new one. Of course the manufacturer does not recommend this, but after speaking with a technical support manager at Honeywell, confirmed that the minimal amount of carbon removed with one light vacuuming won't kill ya'.
